Arena Academy

Arena Academy has improved significantly since its previous inspection and is now judged good across all key judgements. Leaders, trustees and governors share an ambitious and inclusive vision, monitor impact rigorously and have driven improvements across the curriculum, behaviour, attendance and leadership. Pupils are polite, respectful and feel safe, and relationships between pupils and staff are warm. Behaviour and attendance have improved considerably, the curriculum is ambitious and carefully sequenced, pupils with SEND learn the same curriculum, reading is prioritised and personal development and careers provision are strong. Safeguarding is effective. However, assessment practice is inconsistent in some lessons, meaning misconceptions and gaps are not always addressed quickly, which restricts progress for some pupils; recent national test outcomes also do not yet reflect the improvements made.

Strengths

• High expectations for achievement, including for pupils with SEND
• Ambitious and carefully sequenced curriculum with appropriate breadth and depth
• Strong leadership and trust collaboration focused on school improvement
• Pupils are polite, considerate and respectful
• Behaviour has improved significantly and suspensions have reduced considerably
• Attendance is now much better
• Pupils feel safe and relationships between pupils and staff are warm
• Reading is prioritised with targeted support for pupils who have fallen behind
• Well-designed personal development and careers programme prepares pupils for life in modern Britain
• Safeguarding arrangements are effective
• Staff workload and well-being are considered by leaders
• Most parents and carers recognise the school has improved

Areas for Improvement

• Assessment is not used consistently effectively to check what pupils know and understand
• In some lessons, misconceptions and gaps in knowledge are not addressed quickly enough
• Recent national test outcomes do not yet reflect the improvements made

Admissions: local authority offers data from the Department for Education. A school is oversubscribed when at least 5% of the families who put it first were not offered a place, and undersubscribed when everyone who put it first got in but 10% or more of its places were unfilled in the Department's school capacity survey (the latest survey is used for entry years it does not cover). Places: Department for Education, School capacity, from local authorities' annual survey as at 1 May. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024–25); the survey was not run in 2020. Places include sixth form places. Forecasts are the local authority's own for the school's planning area, an area it uses to plan places that is not the school's catchment area. The forecast starts from a head count in 2025; the dashed line is the Department's estimate of places in that area, including those the authority has firm plans for. Planned places are cumulative, and only those with firm plans are counted.

In 2024–25 pupils at Arena Academy attended 92.2% of sessions (the national figure for secondary schools was 91.6%). 23.4% of pupils were persistently absent, missing at least one session in ten (nationally 23.4%).

Sessions missed

Pupils persistently absent

Source: Department for Education, Pupil absence in schools in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Persistent absence means missing 10% or more of sessions; severe absence means 50% or more. No figures were published for 2019/20.

In 2024–25, 10.5% of pupils at Arena Academy were suspended at least once (nationally 7.3%). No pupils were permanently excluded.

Pupils suspended at least once

Source: Department for Education, Suspensions and permanent exclusions in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). A pupil can be suspended more than once, so suspensions per 100 pupils can be higher than the share of pupils suspended. Very small numbers are hidden by the DfE. Exclusion figures dropped in 2020 and 2021 because of school closures.

In 2025–26 Arena Academy had 16.2 pupils for each teacher (the national figure for secondary schools was 16.7). Of its teachers in 2024–25, 13.2% were no longer at the school a year later (nationally 14.1%).

Pupils per teacher

Teachers who left the school within a year

Source: Department for Education, School workforce in England. Each year is the one the school year ends in (2025 is 2024/25). Pupils per teacher counts full-time-equivalent pupils and teachers. Turnover is the share of a year's teachers (full-time equivalent) who were not at the school the following year, whether they moved to another school or left state-funded teaching. Turnover and sickness figures run one year behind the ratios. Sick leave is the share of teachers who took at least one day in the year, so it swings widely at small schools, where a few teachers can make it 0% or 100%. The national figures are for all state schools of the same type.

In 2025–26, 18.9% of pupils at Arena Academy were on SEN support (nationally 14.1%) and 0.8% had an education, health and care (EHC) plan (nationally 3.5%).

Pupils by main type of need

Source: Department for Education, Special educational needs in England (the 2025–26 school census). SEN support is extra help in school without an EHC plan. National figures are for all state-funded secondary schools. Counts are as published, with small numbers not hidden.

In 2024–25 Arena Academy received £8,780 and spent £9,016 for each of its 1,042 pupils. It ended the year with reserves of £2,874,000 (£2,758 per pupil).

Across all 4 schools of Core Education Trust, income was £8,815 and spending £8,892 per pupil.

Income per pupil

Spending per pupil

Source: Department for Education, Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool. Each year is the one the financial year ends in (2024 is 2023–24). Academy figures include a share of the trust's central services, shared out by pupil numbers, and are rounded to the nearest £1,000. Premises costs were defined differently from 2024, so compare them across that gap with care.

• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools

All schools in Birmingham · Birmingham local authority: places and applications

Arena Academy is part of Core Education Trust, which runs 4 schools. The nearest others:

• Jewellery Quarter Academy Birmingham
• Rockwood Academy Birmingham
• City Academy Birmingham

What is Arena Academy's Ofsted rating?

The latest Ofsted rating for Arena Academy is Good, from an inspection in December 2024.

When was Arena Academy last inspected by Ofsted?

Arena Academy was last inspected in December 2024.

How many pupils does Arena Academy have?

Arena Academy has 969 pupils on roll.

What age range does Arena Academy cover?

Arena Academy for pupils aged 11 to 16.

What are Arena Academy's GCSE results?

In 2026 its average Attainment 8 score was 42.7, and 36% of pupils achieved grade 5 or above in both English and maths GCSE.

Where is Arena Academy?

Arena Academy is at Beeches Road, Great Barr, Birmingham, West Midlands, B42 2PY.